New compound makes bitter pill easier to swallow

Some people use honey, others crush them up and put them on ice-cream, and Mary Poppins said a spoonful of sugar was the trick to helping kids to swallow unpleasant-tasting medicine.

But scientists in the US have now discovered a compound that could banish the bitter aftertaste of medicines and pills forever.

Researchers from the Givaudan Flavors Corporation (GFC) told the American Chemical Society's National Meeting and Exposition in Anaheim, California, that they had developed a bitterness blocker (GIV3616) that prevents bitter flavours from being detected by the tongue's tastebuds.

The compound could also help people to switch to diet soft drinks and other food and drink flavoured with low-kilojoule sugar substitutes such as saccharin and sucralose, as it would block the bitter or metallic aftertaste people often experience, LiveScience.com reported.

"A lot of people are very sensitive to bitter taste in medicines, calorie-free sweeteners and foods," GFC researcher Ioana Ungureanu said in media release.

"We'd like to be able to make their diets more enjoyable by masking the off-putting flavours of bitterness. Blocking these flavours we call 'off-notes' could help consumers eat healthier and more varied diets. It could encourage them to switch to non-calorie soft drinks and help children and seniors swallow bitter-tasting medications."

The American Chemical Society heard that in the past food and drug companies had used fat, sugar and salt to hide bitter or unpleasant flavours, but the health issues that accompanied excess consumption of these — including obesity, high blood pressure and heart disease — had caused the industry to look for healthier alternatives.

Dr Ungureanu said they had yet to develop a compound to mask the bitter taste of vegetables that children in particular find unpleasant, but didn't rule out its potential, LiveScience.com reported.

The compound is currently available in the US and Japan and could be available in the UK later in 2011.

Your say: Would this compound encourage you to eat more diet food or soft drink or improve your diet generally?